The notion of "platform" for online sale of drugs will be removed from the provisions of the bill to simplify public action, said Olivier Véran, the new Minister of Health, this Wednesday in the Senate.
"I hear that, in this project, the word platform can worry or sometimes shock", said Olivier Véran, in response to Senator Daniel Chasseing (Corrèze, LIRT) who echoed the concerns of pharmacists.
"Pharmacies are essential links in access to healthcare"
"The government never intended to go to online sales platforms for Amazon or other drugs," assured the minister, "the text (of the bill) provides that this activity must remain under the sole responsibility of the community pharmacist ”. But "to cut short any risk (...) amendments will be tabled to clarify the applicable provisions and remove even the very concept of platform," announced Olivier Véran.
For the Minister of Health, "these simplification measures (...) must not weaken pharmacies whose presence is essential in the territory". "Pharmacies are essential links in access to care," he said. Article 34 of the bill for the acceleration and simplification of public action deals with the online sale of medicines. This type of sale has already been authorized in France for several years, following a European decision.
A common site
Currently, medicines that can be obtained without a prescription are marketed on the Internet only with the authorization of the regional health agency. And each pharmacy must have its own online sales site.
The bill plans to remove this prior authorization, and to widen "the perimeter of possible places" for online sales, allowing in particular pharmacies to pool their resources to build a common site, which would help the smallest of between them to get started on the Internet.
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- Online sales
- Olivier Véran
- Health
- Internet
- Drug